A New Jersey man charged in the deaths of a 7-year-old boy and his aunt when the boat their group had chartered for a Hudson River tour capsized in 2022, throwing more than a dozen people overboard, has pleaded guilty, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Richard Cruz, the boat owner and captain, was arrested in March along with another man, his pilot. Cruz pleaded guilty to one count of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
He is expected to be sentenced in January.
Lindelia Vasquez, 48, and 7-year-old Julian Vasquez, were among a group of family and friends who chartered a boat, Stimulus Money, out of New Jersey on July 12, 2022. They were trapped under the vessel when it flipped over in the Hudson near Pier 86, in front of the USS Intrepid in the middle of the afternoon. They later died.
Cruz and his pilot had been accused of conducting boat “tours” for paying customers onboard the vessel on multiple occasions in the months leading up to the capsizing, although they did not have the required United States Coast Guard credentials and certifications to do so.
According to prosecutors, Cruz's negligent actions and omissions caused the capsizing and, therefore, the two deaths. Aside from required documentation issues, prosecutors say Stimulus Money had 13 people on board at the time of the capsizing, which is more than the max capacity for that boat. They allege Cruz drove the boat at a high rate of speed while small craft advisory for high winds and heavy seas advisory was in effect.
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Stimulus Money was a 24-foot Yamaha AR-240 jet boat with a top speed just below 52 mph and a 12-person capacity, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
